University of Houston

Women in Physics Society

The Women in Physics Society at University of Houston (WiPS-UH) aims to facilitate camaraderie among the women in the department and also reach out to the youth in Houston to inspire them to pursue a career in STEM.

OUR MISSION MC2


  • MOTIVATE: Serve as a central organization where women in physics and related areas, from all career levels, come together to discuss topics in the field and uplift each other in their career trajectories.
  • CONNECT: Provide an inclusive and safe environment to women from different cultural, socio-economic or other diverse backgrounds, to share their unique experiences and build connections that will be helpful in the future.
  • CONSTRUCT: Help build the community around us by sparking an interest and passion for STEM careers in the youth. We have conducted outreach programs in surrounding Houston schools and communities.
University of Houston is the second most ethnically diverse major research university in the United States. Additionally, the Department of Physics at UH is one of a small number of universities in the nation, awarding 30% or more of its Ph.D. degrees to women, according to a report by American Institute of Physics. We are fortunate to be a part of a diverse group of people. We, at WiPS-UH, are committed towards building a stronger community that resonates with our mission. We aim to encourage career development and retention of more women in STEM through our social events, career workshops and outreach activities. In 2020, WiPS-UH received the American Physical Society (APS) Women in Physics Group Grants to expand our reach as a group.



Send us an email to join our community. Membership is FREE.
Spotlight Series

Spotlight Series

*** Submissions that support the recruitment and retention of women in STEM, are encouraged. We will love to share your research, awards, perspectives. If you are interested in an interview, email us at wips[at]central[dot]uh[dot]edu or DM us on Twitter @wips_UH.***

Women's History Month



March 8, 2023 : WiPS-UH is celebrating women's history month and international women's day! Click on the link below to watch.

News & Events

News & Events

Announcements and Upcoming Events Spring 2024


Mar 18th, 2024: Movie Night

We are thrilled to announce that Women in Physics Society has collaborated with Netflix and would invite you all to a special screening of Netflix’s 3 Body Problem. Want to see Netflix’s 3 Body Problem, a mind-blowing adaptation from the creators of Game of Thrones and Alexander Woo, before anyone else? Then join us for a special FREE advance screening of the first two episodes. All you have to do to save your seat for this FREE event is RSVP here. We’ll even have themed cocktails only available at the screening.

Mar 8th, 2024: Movie Night

We are delighted to invite all graduate students in the Department of Physics to a Movie Night to celebrate International Women's Day!

Past events.
Resources

Resources

Find out about fellowships, groups and outreach. For more info, go to resources.

Women in Physics

APS is committed to encouraging the recruitment, retention, and career development of women physicists at all levels.

SACNAS-UH

Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science is dedicated to fostering the success of diverse scientists.

Nature Careers Podcast

Working Scientist is Nature Careers' podcast that features interviews from experts in the field and highlights diverse career issues.

National Society of Black Physicists

NSBP is the largest organization devoted to the growth, development, and advancement of the African-American physics community.

American Association of University Women

AAUW is a non-profit organization that advances equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.

Sexual and gender minorities

LGBT+ physicists is a website with resources for scientists who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, as well as other sexual and gender minorities.

People

Team 2023-2024

Get to know our leadership team, student members, and faculty members.

Prachi Garella

2nd year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

President

Tania Ghosh

4th year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

Vice President

Navmi Naik

2nd year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

Financial Officer

Fernanda Torres

2nd year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

Webmaster

Huma Nawaz

2nd year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

Event Manager

Sabrina Hernandez

2nd year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

Social Media Manager

Julia Niwemuto

1st year graduate student
Department of Physics
University of Houston

Event Manager

Dr. Claudia Ratti

Associate Professor
Department of Physics, University of Houston.

Chapter Faculty Advisor

Advisory Board

Anjaly Sasikumar Menon, Lilly A Schaffer, and Atrayee Sarkar.

Volunteering Team

Maggie Fuller (Physics Undergraduate), Angela Guzman (Mathematical Biology and Physics Undergraduate).

Graduate Students

Prachi Garella, Fernanda Torres, Sabrina Hernandez, Huma Nawaz, Benise Niyikiza, Iqra Zahid, Kristen Dobbs, Vidhi Vidhi, Anjaly Sasikumar Menon, Yuchen Peng, Nosheen Younas, Fengjiao Pan, Tania Ghosh, Chamini Shammi Pathiraja Mudiyanselage, Ana Gonzalez Romero, Ling-Hua Chang, Atrayee Sarkar, Lilly A Schaffer, Deepa Guragain, Navmi A Naik.

Faculty

Mini Das, Lisa W Koerner, Donna Stokes, Shuo Chen, Claudia Ratti, Rebecca Forrest, Sladjana Maric.

Undergraduate Students

We encourage and welcome undergraduate women to join our group and events.

Past Officers 2020 - 2021

Vidushi Adlakha (Founder and President), Keea Healey (Vice President), Lilly Schaffer (Treasurer), Ananya Mondal (Webmaster), Claudia Ratti (Faculty Advisor).

Past Officers 2021 - 2022

Ananya Mondal (President, Webmaster, Social Media Manager), Atrayee Sarkar and Jamie Karthein (Vice President), Lilly Schaffer (Treasurer), Anjaly S Menon (Outreach and Event Eoordinator), Claudia Ratti (Faculty Advisor).

Past Officers 2022 - 2023

Anjaly S Menon (President), Atrayee Sarkar (Vice President), Prachi Garella (Social Media Manager), Tania Ghosh and Navmi Naik (Event Manager), Lilly Schaffer (Treasurer), Fernanda Torres (Webmaster), Claudia Ratti (Faculty Advisor).

Gallery

Gallery

  • All
  • 2023-2024
  • 2022-2023
  • 2021-2022
  • Past events

February 24, 2023 || WiPS at Research Day 2024. It is an outreach event organized by the physics department to highligh what physics is, what physicists do, and what cutting-edge research is being done at UH.

January 19, 2023 || Women in Physics gives a talk for the Outreach Event at Goose Creek Memorial High School.

November 18, 2023 || WiPS participates at the 2nd APS Championship at UH.

October 28, 2023 || Women in Physics wins the 2nd Annual Cook off organized by the Physics Department at UH.

October 20, 2023 || Women in Physics are delighted to present the first Open Mic night of the Fall semester!

October 20, 2023 || Women in Physics are delighted to present the first Open Mic night of the Fall semester!

October 20, 2023 || Welcome to the Fall semester 2023 with a luncheon for all Women in Physics.

August 20, 2023 || NSM's Block Party.

July 17, 2023 || TcSUH/teach Houston workshop for summer camps at University of Houston.

April 28, 2023 || SACNAS and WiPS Event at UH.

March 8, 2023 || Mural for International Women Day by WiPS.

Feb 24, 2023 || Professional Skills for Graduate Students talk by Dr. Donna Stokes.

Feb 18, 2023 || Women in STEM poster for Research Day at UH.

February 18, 2023 || Open the image to view the WiPS poster presented on UH Physics Research Day 2023.

Oct 14, 2022 || Presentation at Texas APS Meeting.

Oct 07, 2022 || Ananya won the popular choice award for the NSM 3 minute thesis competition.

Aug 18, 2022 || WiPS 2022 team introducing the chapter to the incoming graduate students at the department orientation.

Aug 5, 2022 || WiPS members wrapping up summer 2022 with a movie night. We watched Lilly's suggested movie 'Everything Everywhere All At Once'!

Aug 4, 2022 || WiPS undergraduate member, Britney Cid, completes the 10-week NSF REU program called Frontiers in Science. The program is led by UH professor Dr Greg Morrison and is a collaboration between UH, Rice University and Northeastern University. She also won the second place at the undergraduate poster presentation at the end of the program. Congratulations!

Aug 4, 2022 || WiPS graduate member, Ananya Mondal, completes mentoring her undergraduate mentee (Samrina Acharya) on a computational biophysics project, for a 10-week NSF REU program called Frontiers in Science. The program is led by UH professor Dr Greg Morrison and is a collaboration between UH, Rice University and Northeastern University. Samrina won the first place at the undergraduate poster presentation at the end of the program. Congratulations!

April 19, 2022 || WiPS launched the Women in Physics Speaker Series alongwith UH Physics faculty: Dr Shuo Chen, Dr Claudia Ratti and Dr Kevin Bassler. Dr Jacinta Conrad inaugurated the series and interacted with graduate students later.

April 19, 2022 || Dr. Jacinta Conrad inaugurated the women in physics speaker series and shows a slide honoring the contributions of women polymer scientists.

March 31, 2022 || Data and Analysis event organised by Lilly, Atrayee and Anjaly. It was open to all graduate students. Anjaly won the people's choice vote for best data analysis picture.

February, 2022 || WiPS officers lunch meeting to discuss future events.

February 12, 2022 || Open the image to view the WiPS poster presented on UH Physics Research Day 2022.

February 12, 2022 || UH Physics research day organised by physics professor Greg Morrison and team. WiPS members presented their research. WiPS also presented poster on the need to have support groups in academia. Congratulations to the graduate poster award winners- Abhijit Chakraborty, David Waligo and Ananya Mondal and undergraduate winner, Damien Price.

January 24, 2022 || First general meeting of WiPS-UH for Spring 2022 semester.

December 22, 2021 || WiPS-UH, started the hygiene product service in the physics department for a stress-free work environment for women in physics. Anjaly and Ananya are setting up the hygiene product service initiative. Thanks to APS Women in Physics Group Grants and Department of Physics, UH, for supporting this important initiative.

November 22, 2021 || WiPS-UH collaborates with newly launched UH-APS chapter for a alumni/alumnae virtual career panel. The topic of discussion was academic and non-academic career paths in physics.

November 12, 2021 || WiPS-UH member and vice president 2021, Jamie Karthein sucessfully defends her thesis. She worked with Claudia Ratti. Among other things, she studied the equation of state of QCD in different conditions of Q and S chemical potentials and the chemical freeze-out through yields and fluctuations.

November 11, 2021 || WiPS-UH collaborates with SACNAS-UH for undergraduate research symposium. Ananya was one of the judges and she had a fun time learning about the work of talented undergraduate students in STEM.

November 4, 2021 || WiPS-UH collaborates with SACNAS-UH for an outreach event at Chavez High School along with Drs. Greg Morrison and Claudia Ratti. The aim was to highlight the financial resources available for students to take up a college education in STEM.

October 21 - 23, 2021 || Anjaly, Ashtami and other physics graduate students from UH present their research at the Texas APS Section Meeting.

October 15, 2021 || Tania Ghosh, a 2nd year graduate student in Dr Mini Das's group designs the WiPS Logo. Here Lilly is congratulating her with a gift card. Thanks Tania!

October 12, 2021 || Fengjiao, Nosheen & Anjaly join the team. They meet with Ananya, Jamie and Lilly to plan the upcoming events. We also enjoyed Fengjiao's delicious cupcakes!

October 4, 2021 || WiPS-UH collaborated with student organization, UH-SACNAS, for the Undergraduate STEM Research Symposium Info Session. Ananya presented her research on the physics of biopolymers and interacted with undergrads students in STEM.

September 22, 2021 || Hybrid Welcome Luncheon Fall 2021 was organised by WiPS-UH to meet the women grad students, postdocs, faculty and staff in the physics department. An event celebrating the research and achievements of women in STEM.

September 22, 2021 || Hybrid Welcome Luncheon Fall 2021 was organised by WiPS-UH to meet the women grad students, postdocs, faculty and staff in the physics department. An event celebrating the research and achievements of women in STEM.

September 17, 2021 || WiPS-UH featured on The Cougar, University of Houston's official student-run newspaper. Read the full article here

July 15, 2021 || Virtual Meet of WiPS-UH chapter advisor, Dr. Claudia Ratti and new officers (Lilly, Jamie and Ananya).

Feb 23, 2020 || Dr. Margaret Cheung was the inaugural speaker at UH-Rice women in physics distinguished lecture series.

Feb 19, 2020 || Ananya Mondal, graduate student in Morrison group, received the Biophysical Society (BPS) Travel Award 2020. She presented a poster titled 'Inhomogeneous forces in semiflexible biopolymers' at the BPS 64th Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

Feb 23, 2020 || Vidushi Adlakha, graduate student from physics department, is introducing WiPS-UH and motivating high school students at Chávez High School, Houston, to pursue careers in STEM.

Feb 23, 2020 || Dr. Rebecca Forrest at Chávez High School's outreach visit with WiPS-UH.

April 10, 2019 || Lunch & Learn: The women faculty of the Physics Department at UH have invited the women graduate students and postdocs for a lunch to discuss any issue or curiosity about being a woman in physics. This was also an occasion to celebrate Vidushi Adlakha, one of our graduate students who received the UH Teaching Excellence Award.

April 10, 2019 || Vidushi Adlakha, graduate student from physics department, with the UH Teaching Excellence Award.

October 11, 2018 || Lunch & Learn: The women faculty of the Physics Department have invited the women students and postdocs for a lunch to discuss any issue or curiosity about being a woman in physics

September 27, 2017 || Lunch & Learn: The women faculty of the Physics Department have invited the women students and postdocs for a lunch to discuss any issue or curiosity about being a woman in physics.

Merch

Merch

If you are interested in buying our merch please fill out this form Click here .

Feb 18, 2023 || Pins by WiPS, sold out at Research Day at UH.

Feb 18, 2023 || Featuring our pins.

Join Us

Join Us

Membership is FREE.

Our Address

Department of Physics, University of Houston
Science & Research Building 1 (Rm 617), 3507 Cullen Blvd, Houston, TX 77204

Email Us

Send us an email to join our team.

wips[at]central[dot]uh[dot]edu

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@wips_UH